The Paupers of New Brunswick

The province of New Brunswick ‘s first Poor Law which the Loyalists enacted in 1786, owed its origins to the English Poor Law of 1601, and to the way that law had been interpreted in the New England colonies. Three overseers of the poor were appointed in each New Brunswick parish. Their job was to assess the numbers and state of the poor , and to collect annual taxes to pay for the pauper’s maintenance. In most areas almshouses (poor houses) were to be built to house the poor. If this was not possible, the overseers could make arrangements with local people to house, feed, and clothe paupers for a yearly sum to be paid by the parish. This scheme gradually evolved into a contract system, whereby those who received paupers were able to use them in any way they saw fit. Although the overseers were suppose to control the placement and welfare of the poor, they rarely did this. A contractor was intent on getting as much work out of his charge as he could, with as little expense as possible. If a pauper died while under his care, the contractor was not required to refund any of the fee already paid him, or to pay burial expenses. This form of social welfare which lasted until at least 1928 seems bad enough. But far worse were the public auctions of the poor, a system used in parishes where the contract arrangement was considered unwieldy and too expensive. In Sussex the auction advertised was held on the last day of the year. Here is what was advertised in the 1884 Saint John Daily Sun;

The Board ,Lodging and Clothing of Bernard McCann, Hannah Boles, Martin Condon and John McLaughlin, Paupers, will be let to the lowest approved bidder for a period of time on Wednesday the 31^st December instant at the Railway Station at 2 o’clock P.M. The overseers rounded up the four paupers from their owners homes and brought them to the train station. Here shivering in their thin garments and clutching their few possessions, they climbed up onto the station platform. One by one their fate was decided. What was their value? The services of Hannah Boles went for $72.00, and no one wanted Martin Condon who had long been a parish charge. Though opposition to the sales of the paupers increases ,the practice did not stop until the overseers of the poor realized that it was an expensive way to care for the destitute. In Northumberland County a pauper in the almshouse cost 49cents a week less than the usual rate at an auction. In 1899 he Kings County poorhouse finally opened in Norton and the last pauper auction had been held in the town of Sussex. The following is a bill submitted by a contractor Alexander Hawks for expenses relating to the illness and death of his charge ,Paul Doherty:

The Overseers of the Poor of the Parish of Hopewell in the County of Albert in the Province of New Brunswick: To Alexander Hawks 1903: Dec.14 Board and Attendance on Paul Doherty for 14 weeks and 3 days at $5. A week =$50.50, Money paid B.A Marvin M.D. for Medical Attendance=$4.13, To Amount paid at Hillsboro Drug Store=$4. Money paid for 1 package =$1. , For 2 box pills = 50 cents, 2 bottles liniment =50cents, Coffin on the death of Paul Doherty Dec 1903=$12.00, Money paid for gravedigger=$1. , Money paid to dig the grave =$2.00, Money for going to Albert to get the coffin=$1., a bottle of wine during his lifetime= $1., 2 days with team and man going to New Ireland to attend funeral and take the corpse for Burial $1.50 a day = $3., total $106.26. Notice the time and labour involved, sure is different today. It is hard to imagine that this went on in the olden days, I found this information in a book titled The Bitter with the Sweet. New Brunswick 1604-1984. Very interesting reading. I do hope you enjoyed this article, now for some more products I want to share, you can find them at

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